WEBVTT - Dolores Huerta: How to Lead a Movement 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:06.200 In the early nineteen sixties, grape workers in California earned 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:09.799 less than a dollar an hour, with no brakes, no 0:00:10.000 --> 0:00:14.400 access to toilets or cold drinking water, and miserable living conditions. 0:00:15.200 --> 0:00:18.599 For years, the growers had pitted Filipino and Mexican American 0:00:18.600 --> 0:00:23.040 workers against one another to prevent collective action. All that 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:27.960 changed in September nine, when the unions representing both the 0:00:27.960 --> 0:00:32.360 Filipino and Mexican Americans joined together to organize a strike 0:00:32.440 --> 0:00:36.320 and a boycott at great personal costs and even in 0:00:36.360 --> 0:00:41.000 the face of violent reprisals. The workers held firm for 0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:45.800 five long years, but their struggle paid off. In nineteen seventy, 0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:50.720 California's grape growers signed their very first union contracts, giving 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:57.040 workers higher wages, benefits including healthcare, and stronger protections. So 0:00:57.080 --> 0:01:00.080 why am I telling you this Because for all of 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:03.640 our division and conflict today, we had to remember that 0:01:04.200 --> 0:01:09.040 progress has never come easily. It requires hard work, persistence, 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:13.520 and most of all, organizing. Today I have the honor 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:15.959 of speaking with someone who was not only one of 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:19.240 the key organizers of the grape strike and boycott, but 0:01:19.319 --> 0:01:22.160 has been in the front lines of nearly every progressive 0:01:22.240 --> 0:01:27.200 social movement since together was as our Chavs. In nineteen 0:01:27.280 --> 0:01:30.959 sixty two, the lawyers where to form the National farm 0:01:31.000 --> 0:01:35.640 Workers Association, which later merged for the Agricultural Workers Organizing 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:40.240 Committee to become the United farm Workers, America's most enduring 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:44.560 agricultural union. She's a trailblazer who embodies the passion and 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:49.160 persistence required to create lasting change. As a direct result 0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:52.760 of her leadership in the American labor movement, countless people 0:01:52.800 --> 0:01:55.760 have been able to better support themselves and their families 0:01:56.240 --> 0:02:01.480 and have been treated with the respect and dignity they deserve. Today, 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:06.680 Dolores is and not showing any sign of slowing down. 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:11.440 She's president of the Dolores square To Foundation, a grassroots 0:02:11.520 --> 0:02:15.960 organization that engages and develops leaders working at the intersection 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:20.240 of women's rights, immigrant rights, labor rights, voting rights, and 0:02:20.320 --> 0:02:24.720 civil rights at the local level where people's lives can 0:02:24.760 --> 0:02:30.399 be changed for the better. Dolores, You're a national treasurer. 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:33.160 Thanks so much for being here today. Thank you for 0:02:33.200 --> 0:02:37.720 inviting me. Let's start from the beginning. For our listeners 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:40.120 who don't know as much about you as I do. 0:02:41.080 --> 0:02:43.440 Tell us a little bit about how you grew up 0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:47.639 and what made you decide to become an organizer. Well, 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:51.320 I actually I was very fortunate that I grew up 0:02:51.360 --> 0:02:56.760 in Stockton, California. I was born in New Mexico, and uh, 0:02:57.160 --> 0:03:00.280 my family was very always involved in politics. As you know, 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:03.560 people in New Mexico have been there for many generations, 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:07.320 and I remember as a young girl hearing the stories 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:09.520 about who's running for this office, who was running for 0:03:09.560 --> 0:03:14.359 that office. My parents divorced and my mother boughts to California. 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:19.760 My father, who was stayed in New Mexico. But he 0:03:19.840 --> 0:03:22.919 was always very He was a union organizer, a volunteer 0:03:23.000 --> 0:03:26.760 organizer for the for the United mind Workers Union, and 0:03:26.800 --> 0:03:29.320 then he ran for the State Assembly in New Mexico 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:33.200 and one but he wasn't there very long because he 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:38.960 was expelled because the UH punched out one of the 0:03:39.000 --> 0:03:43.040 other one of the other UH president of the Legislature, 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:48.960 Senator Montoya, who so he was expelled because Montoya, the 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:51.280 Montoya founding, was a big They were big cotton growers 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:55.400 and they were very anti union. And my dad, to 0:03:55.520 --> 0:03:59.480 his dying day, was always very very strong union supporter. 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:02.760 Everywhere my dad went, he organized the union. You know. 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:05.920 After World War Two, when he he had been in 0:04:05.960 --> 0:04:08.840 the Navy and he came to California and he was 0:04:08.920 --> 0:04:12.880 working at an army base and he organized Actually they're 0:04:12.880 --> 0:04:16.839 they're more confederation to government epolice. So I sort of 0:04:16.880 --> 0:04:19.560 got that sense from my father, and I wish everybody 0:04:19.600 --> 0:04:24.120 could have had my childhood because it's Stockton, been, California. 0:04:24.120 --> 0:04:28.960 It's between San Francisco and Sacramento. H very a very 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:32.400 diverse community. So many of the people there worked again 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:34.760 in the in the fields and the farms. So we 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:39.240 had people there from the Philippines, from Japan, from China, 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:43.760 from Mexico, the Okys, Uh, we had black families there. 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:46.880 My neighbors were all these people here. My next door 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:51.719 neighbors were immigrants from Italy. Kitty corner they were from Greece, 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:54.600 and my next door neighbors was the Smith family. They 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:57.159 were black. And I say this because a lot of 0:04:57.160 --> 0:05:00.919 people didn't have that opportunity to grow up with people 0:05:01.080 --> 0:05:04.440 so many different ethnic groups. I like to say I 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:07.320 got my ethnic studies from my friends, and I was 0:05:07.360 --> 0:05:09.280 just really blessed by that because I think that really 0:05:09.320 --> 0:05:12.000 prepared me for the world. And so uh, I was 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:15.320 very very fortunate not to have grown up in a 0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:19.279 situation where racism was not an issue because you know, 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:22.880 we were all of different backgrounds and colors and we 0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:25.760 all loved each other. Why do you think it's so 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:28.520 hard in some places for people to feel that level 0:05:28.600 --> 0:05:32.760 of comfort with each other across racial and ethnic lins Now, well, 0:05:32.760 --> 0:05:35.279 agave because I don't. I believe that they interact with 0:05:35.560 --> 0:05:39.320 different people from different backgrounds, and so when people don't 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:42.040 know each other, then they fear each other. And I 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:44.800 think that's really hurt our country. And when we have 0:05:44.920 --> 0:05:48.200 a lot of segregation and and then people don't really 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:52.080 understand each other's cultures, they're not realizing that when we 0:05:52.120 --> 0:05:55.560 do meet other people from different cultures, it really enriches us, 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:59.560 you know, it makes our our We have a broader 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:02.640 vision of who people are. You know, there's actually a 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:07.240 lot of academic research that shows that diverse groups make 0:06:07.320 --> 0:06:11.080 better decisions than homogeneous groups, and better than loan geniuses. 0:06:11.600 --> 0:06:14.440 It's fine to be part of a tribe, but it 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:18.160 has to be an inclusive tribalism to work. Anyway. I 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:23.360 was fascinated by your saying that when I speak at schools, 0:06:24.000 --> 0:06:28.880 they often tell the students that we have one human race, 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:32.640 that we have a lot of culture, cultures and nationalities, 0:06:33.200 --> 0:06:37.279 but we only have one human race that is Homo sapiens, 0:06:37.320 --> 0:06:39.839 and that we are all related. And when they say 0:06:39.880 --> 0:06:42.240 that this has happened to me a couple of times. 0:06:42.520 --> 0:06:44.560 At one time, all of these children, they were like 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:47.599 like for a second and third grader, sitting on the floor, 0:06:48.279 --> 0:06:51.360 and I said to them, where all cousins were all related. 0:06:51.800 --> 0:06:54.200 They all stood up and started running towards each other 0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:56.240 and hugging each other. I want to ask you just 0:06:56.839 --> 0:06:59.719 one more question about your early years, because it strikes 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:03.279 me that one of the problems we've got in America 0:07:03.320 --> 0:07:08.200 today is that the average human attention spanned has gotten 0:07:08.279 --> 0:07:11.000 shorter and shorter and shorter. As we've gotten access to 0:07:11.040 --> 0:07:15.160 more information, we take less time to process it and 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:18.160 put it together. So the thing I wanted to ask 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:22.400 you is your first great hit. I guess as an 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:25.360 organizer was a pivotal role you played in a grape 0:07:25.360 --> 0:07:28.400 strike and boycott and that went on for five years 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:33.160 and you were a young woman years old. How did 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:36.400 you stick it out for five years? Was it hard? 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:39.360 Was it easy? Did you have to think about it? 0:07:39.600 --> 0:07:44.520 Because most people think about going to a march or 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:48.480 several marches. How did you do it well? Even though 0:07:48.520 --> 0:07:51.880 it takes that patience, but it was interesting and if 0:07:51.920 --> 0:07:55.640 you asked that question, because sometimes I felt that the 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:59.600 farm workers and we're going to give up, but they didn't. 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:02.120 You know, we started with the strike in de Lano, 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:05.240 and then we couldn't win the strike because they were 0:08:05.280 --> 0:08:08.520 bringing strike breakers because we're so close in California, we're 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:11.160 so close to Mexico that they could bring in strike 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:13.200 breakers and they would bring them in from the Philippines 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:16.360 and other places. And so we went out on the 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:21.240 boycott because this attorney stru wind stru Wineberg from San Francisco, 0:08:21.520 --> 0:08:23.800 he said, why don't you try a boycott because they 0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:25.920 had done the great boy the bus boycott there in 0:08:25.960 --> 0:08:29.920 the South. And so uh, some of our young volunteers 0:08:29.920 --> 0:08:31.880 were now on the hitch hike to New York and 0:08:31.920 --> 0:08:37.079 I did the first boycott against a wine company, uh Shenley, 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:39.480 that was also a whiskey company, and we got that 0:08:39.559 --> 0:08:43.120 first contract. So then we did this all great boycott. 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:46.680 So I was would go to New York and start 0:08:46.720 --> 0:08:49.680 the great boycott there with Mr Fred Ross Senior, the 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:53.400 man who taught us how to organize. So then when 0:08:53.400 --> 0:08:55.520 I would come back to de Lano, we're you know, 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:58.680 we're the heart of the great strike. Was that, and 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:02.040 I would feel like really guilty because we hadn't one yet. 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:04.200 And when I would say to the workers, I tried 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:06.920 to apologize to them and said, oh, don't worry, don't 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:10.959 worry wortha We're gonna win. We're gonna win. We're gonna 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:13.199 stay here on strike as long as it takes for 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:16.920 us to win. So so then then that really bolstered 0:09:17.000 --> 0:09:19.000 me up, and it maybe gave me a lot a 0:09:19.040 --> 0:09:22.079 lot of inspiration because they were willing to be out 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:24.600 there on the picket line, you know, from morning until 0:09:25.200 --> 0:09:29.480 until from don from down to too when the sun 0:09:29.520 --> 0:09:32.559 went down. Then that I thought I can be out 0:09:32.600 --> 0:09:36.040 there in the city asking people of boycott grapes. So 0:09:36.800 --> 0:09:38.840 you know, we knew that we were going to win eventually. 0:09:39.160 --> 0:09:42.520 And and sus that always had a great statement that 0:09:42.679 --> 0:09:47.000 I know that's part of your mantra. Also he said, 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:49.440 the only time that you that you lose us when 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:51.839 you quit. As long as you don't give up, we're 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:54.880 going to win. So all of us felt we that 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:57.760 that strength. You know, of course with Caesar's leadership and 0:09:57.800 --> 0:09:59.959 then so many people supporting us that we were go 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:07.160 to win eventually, and of course we did. We'll be 0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:18.520 right back. I wanted to skip around a little bit. 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:22.880 In your rich long life, you moved beyond the union 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:27.440 organizers to try to mobilize people to vote and increase 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:33.680 their empowerment through citizenship. And the more you did it, 0:10:33.840 --> 0:10:38.840 the more you had to rely on basically persuasion. And 0:10:39.200 --> 0:10:42.200 it occurs to me that a lot of people find 0:10:42.240 --> 0:10:45.080 that difficult. They find it difficult to talk to people, 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:48.360 to find that difficult to say what's in their mind 0:10:48.440 --> 0:10:51.600 and heart? What do you say to people like that? 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:56.160 They are young people all over the world today who 0:10:56.320 --> 0:10:59.480 really want to be heard and want to make a difference. 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:03.120 What advice do you give young people who are trying 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:05.960 to find their own voice and use it. You know, 0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:09.400 before Season and I started the Union, we came out 0:11:09.400 --> 0:11:15.679 of another organization called the Community Service Organization that again, uh, 0:11:15.720 --> 0:11:19.160 I think you knew Congressman Edroid Ball very well, who 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:21.800 was the first Latino elected to the City Council Los 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:25.280 Angeles and then became the first congressman. Well, he came 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:28.760 out of that organization and when once we got a 0:11:28.760 --> 0:11:31.640 group together, the first action that we took was to 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:36.240 go out and go register voters door to door. That's 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:37.959 the first thing that we did. So and see us 0:11:37.960 --> 0:11:42.120 so that the Community Service Organization we dedicated ourselves to 0:11:42.800 --> 0:11:46.480 do voter registration, you know, and even though it was 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:50.520 a nonprofit organization, we were very effective in getting out 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:53.800 the vote to get good people elected, and we were 0:11:53.800 --> 0:11:58.400 able to pass major, major legislation, uh Like in California, 0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:01.520 we passed the law that if you were if you're 0:12:01.559 --> 0:12:04.400 a citizen, you could register somebody else to vote. You 0:12:04.440 --> 0:12:06.840 wouldn't have to find a deputy register somewhere like they 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:09.840 do in Texas still to this day. Then you could, 0:12:09.840 --> 0:12:12.400 you know. So we we were able to register many, 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:16.199 many thousands and thousands of people to vote. So we 0:12:16.320 --> 0:12:20.240 carried that tradition also into the United farm Workers. You know, 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:22.600 we put putting a lot of time and registering people 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:24.840 to vote. And then of course in the United Farmworkers 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:28.559 we also endorsed candidates. And I like, I like, and 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:30.960 to like say, I tell him, it's like a football game, 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:33.240 you know, and you have one team that chose up 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:36.000 and the other team doesn't show up. The team that 0:12:36.120 --> 0:12:38.800 chose up is gonna win. So we've got to get 0:12:38.840 --> 0:12:41.440 out there and get our team elected. And we don't 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:44.000 look at people. We can't pass the legislation that we want. 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:46.720 And I say that the young people, you can march 0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:50.439 and you can protest as much as you want. And 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:52.480 that's the kind of good that we do that because 0:12:52.480 --> 0:12:55.719 it brings attention to the issues. But if it's not 0:12:55.920 --> 0:13:00.320 put into a law, then it can't be impl ment, 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:05.319 it can't be enforced. People cannot be held accountable. Otherwise 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:07.760 we can march and talk and nothing's going to happen. 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:10.360 It will stay the same. So, you know, we just 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:13.000 have to work really really hard, and we can't have 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:16.439 a democracy people don't vote. I mean, that's a foundation 0:13:16.480 --> 0:13:19.320 of our democracy, is it for people to be able 0:13:19.320 --> 0:13:22.000 to vote and to elect the people that we need. 0:13:22.240 --> 0:13:25.600 And we also know that right now our democracy is threatened. 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:28.520 We saw what happened on January the six, you know, 0:13:29.040 --> 0:13:30.880 and we see what's happening now in some of the 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:34.199 southern states for their passing laws to oppressed the vote 0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:38.240 and especially to keep people like myself, people of color, 0:13:38.280 --> 0:13:41.160 from voting. So we've got to work really really hard 0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:44.679 to make sure that we keep our democracy. Often one 0:13:44.720 --> 0:13:47.839 nice week is as to students like and say to people, 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:50.560 you know, to google the map of the United States 0:13:50.559 --> 0:13:54.640 before eighteen forty eight and what you will see is 0:13:54.720 --> 0:13:58.400 that one third of the United States was Mexico. And 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:02.120 so when they say to us, Mexican Americans and you know, 0:14:02.240 --> 0:14:04.120 to go back where we came from, we say, oh, no, 0:14:04.240 --> 0:14:06.360 we were here before the United States was the United 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:10.600 States of America and the North American continent, the South 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:14.960 American continent. These are the indigenous people the continent. You know, 0:14:15.040 --> 0:14:18.560 this land was there and is there. So they they 0:14:18.600 --> 0:14:21.440 they are not the immigrants, so to speak. The two 0:14:21.480 --> 0:14:24.080 immigrants that came to the United States came from Europe, 0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:28.840 like my great grandmother on my grandpa's side and uh 0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:32.080 my great grandfather on my mother's side, who came from England. 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:35.120 You know. So I think we have to just that's 0:14:35.160 --> 0:14:39.400 important with that we you know, really promote ethnic studies. 0:14:39.440 --> 0:14:41.880 And I know there's people are that want to take 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:45.880 out any of the books to talk about slavery and 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:48.320 talk about the real history of the United States of America. 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:52.560 But this is important, and this is this is education. 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:55.120 And if I think if every person in the United 0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:58.960 States had this education about the two history of the 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:01.960 United States, that that way we could erase a lot 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:04.920 of the racism that exists and take away again those 0:15:05.360 --> 0:15:08.000 those arms that they have, those weapons of hatred that 0:15:08.040 --> 0:15:12.800 they use to divide people. But it's something that that 0:15:12.880 --> 0:15:17.080 can happen because you know, uh. Franklin Delano Roosevelt said 0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:20.200 that that the education was the soul of our country. 0:15:20.760 --> 0:15:22.960 And during World War World War two, when I try 0:15:23.000 --> 0:15:27.240 to take money out of the education in the libraries budgets, 0:15:27.240 --> 0:15:30.640 he said, no, we will not take one dime out 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:33.440 of our libraries or one dime out of education, because 0:15:33.600 --> 0:15:37.240 education is the soul of our country. And I think 0:15:37.240 --> 0:15:39.640 we have to put a lot more money into education 0:15:39.760 --> 0:15:44.640 because we know and even in California, when I was 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:48.960 a kid going to school California, and we were like, uh, 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:51.640 I think one or two in terms of the money 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:54.200 that was appropriated for each student, and I think now 0:15:54.200 --> 0:15:57.560 we're like number thirty six or something. And many of 0:15:57.600 --> 0:16:00.000 the states are in the kind of the same position 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:02.640 and where we do not have enough money going into 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:06.080 our schools for our teachers and our students. And that 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:07.960 I think that's one of the things that we really 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:10.960 have to prioritize and we're going to erase all of 0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:13.840 this this hatred that exists right now in our country 0:16:14.480 --> 0:16:17.920 because when people are educated, then you know, and what 0:16:18.120 --> 0:16:20.880 and when I say educated, I mean having the type 0:16:20.880 --> 0:16:24.320 of education that that I'm talking about, the importance of 0:16:24.400 --> 0:16:27.880 labor unions, the importance of voting, you know, the importance 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:32.720 of women having gender studies and and kind of start 0:16:32.880 --> 0:16:37.800 educating our children to get rid of all of that misogyny, sexism, 0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:41.400 homophobia that exists. But I think we can do it, 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:45.040 but we have to make it like a priority, because 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:48.160 I think I hate hate comes from ignorance, and then 0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:51.320 we know that that hatred manifests itself and in people 0:16:51.400 --> 0:16:54.840 killing other people just because their Mexicans, or their Jews, 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:58.600 or their Blacks or their Asians. So I think we 0:16:58.640 --> 0:17:02.880 could actually we this is we could look at this 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:09.320 like a war against ignorance. A war against ignorance. That's 0:17:09.320 --> 0:17:13.960 a great phrase. Let me ask you a more personal question. 0:17:14.000 --> 0:17:16.520 When you had been doing this work for more than 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:19.679 half your life, you were fifty eight years old, you 0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:22.880 were in a peaceful protest in San Francisco when an 0:17:22.920 --> 0:17:26.000 officer hit you with a nightstick and broke four of 0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:29.639 your ribs and shattered your spleen. Did you think about 0:17:29.800 --> 0:17:33.880 giving up then? Were you terrified? What did you think 0:17:34.000 --> 0:17:37.359 was gonna happen? Well, it set me back for a while, 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:42.199 but I have to say this though, it never changed 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:45.639 my mind in terms of my commitment to non violence. 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:48.120 You know that we could still win, that we don't 0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:50.840 have to use violence to be able to be able 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:54.520 to achieve our goals. And uh, that was that was 0:17:55.720 --> 0:17:57.520 And I guess when you go out there and you 0:17:57.600 --> 0:18:02.560 start doing activists work, then people are going to attack you. 0:18:03.359 --> 0:18:05.880 And I know that you your Selfnesser President has been 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:09.680 the victim of many many verbal attacks, of political attacks 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:12.280 and in my case, and that was a physical attack 0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:18.200 and uh at a peaceful protest, But it didn't really determine, 0:18:18.600 --> 0:18:20.920 uh in terms of knowing that we have to continue 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:24.720 working to achieve the kind of social and economic justice 0:18:24.720 --> 0:18:27.640 that we need in our country. What did you think 0:18:27.640 --> 0:18:31.240 about Judge Kanji Brown Jackson being confirmed to the Spring Court? 0:18:31.320 --> 0:18:34.760 Now there are four women on the Spring Court. Why 0:18:34.880 --> 0:18:37.520 is that important? And how do you think it will 0:18:38.040 --> 0:18:42.200 affect young girls growing up? Well, I think it's wonderful 0:18:42.280 --> 0:18:45.560 that we have a black woman on the U Supreme Court. 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:48.760 Oh my gosh, that is so incredible. I think it 0:18:48.840 --> 0:18:51.680 is a moment of joy for all of us. And 0:18:52.160 --> 0:18:54.199 in terms of how it affects young women, I know, 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:57.879 it's it's just gonna be so inspiring for young women 0:18:57.920 --> 0:19:01.720 when they see that a woman can can achieve the 0:19:02.400 --> 0:19:05.960 highest position, you might say, next to the presidency, but 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:08.240 to be on the U. S Supreme Court, I mean, 0:19:08.320 --> 0:19:11.680 that is amazing. And you know, Coretta Scott King said 0:19:11.720 --> 0:19:14.440 that we will never have peace in the world until 0:19:14.480 --> 0:19:17.560 women take power. Oh and by the way, Mr President, 0:19:17.960 --> 0:19:22.119 we have the first Latina on the California State Supreme Court. No, 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:24.879 her name is Patti said it at all. And she 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:28.800 comes from an immigrant family in the Imperial Valley of California, 0:19:29.480 --> 0:19:32.159 So that that is also something that we're very proud of. 0:19:36.440 --> 0:19:46.280 More after this, let me ask you something else, though. 0:19:46.560 --> 0:19:48.600 One of the things that I think is impressive to 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:51.040 me is the work that you were doing through your 0:19:51.040 --> 0:19:56.760 own foundation to help communities build local organizations to advanced 0:19:56.800 --> 0:20:00.560 social justice. I think one of the week missus of 0:20:00.600 --> 0:20:05.000 the Democratic Party, and after you know, the initial civil 0:20:05.119 --> 0:20:08.880 rights actions, was that we spent a lot of time 0:20:08.920 --> 0:20:14.200 on national politics, but we didn't spend enough time building 0:20:14.960 --> 0:20:19.360 organizations and communities that can both build change and then 0:20:19.480 --> 0:20:24.560 change people's attitudes about who they elect from the grassroots. 0:20:24.720 --> 0:20:26.960 So tell us just a little bit about what you're 0:20:26.960 --> 0:20:30.920 doing with the foundation, and while you're doing it well, 0:20:31.000 --> 0:20:33.800 going back to that same organizing model that we used 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:37.280 in the CSO and in the United farm Workers, just 0:20:37.400 --> 0:20:39.960 meeting with people in their homes, convincing them that they 0:20:39.960 --> 0:20:44.399 have power that that again getting them to commit to 0:20:44.480 --> 0:20:48.479 understand that nothing will change unless they get involved. And 0:20:48.560 --> 0:20:52.120 it's just amazing that once people become active and they 0:20:52.160 --> 0:20:55.919 go to school board meetings and city councils meetings and 0:20:55.920 --> 0:20:58.960 and they see the changes that network is making. That 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:03.040 could give us some wonderful examples. We had one woman 0:21:03.119 --> 0:21:07.080 who came out of our organizing group and uh, she 0:21:07.240 --> 0:21:10.520 and her husband and the people are their friends. They 0:21:10.560 --> 0:21:13.240 went door to door to and the past petitions and 0:21:13.280 --> 0:21:16.040 they got a bond issue passed to build a brand 0:21:16.080 --> 0:21:19.840 new state of the art gymnasium for their middle school 0:21:20.960 --> 0:21:24.440 because there are pollution down here in current county. In Bakersville, 0:21:24.960 --> 0:21:28.760 Kevin mccarthey's district, by the way, it's so bad that 0:21:28.960 --> 0:21:30.920 the kids could not even go out and play a 0:21:30.960 --> 0:21:35.800 recess because the weather, the weather is so polluted. And 0:21:35.840 --> 0:21:38.639 then she decided that they got there, They got the 0:21:38.760 --> 0:21:42.520 state of the art gymnasium built. She decided to run 0:21:43.200 --> 0:21:46.320 for the school board, and the principal wanted to get 0:21:46.400 --> 0:21:49.280 rid of the breakfast program for the farmer good children. 0:21:49.760 --> 0:21:52.159 So they got rid of the principle and kept the 0:21:52.200 --> 0:21:57.119 breakfast program. And I mean, just as an example, and 0:21:57.160 --> 0:21:59.760 so many of them have done these improvements like getting 0:22:00.240 --> 0:22:06.280 neighborhood parks, swimming pools, street lights, uh, gutters and and 0:22:06.440 --> 0:22:10.560 the sidewalks and connection to sewers, you know. And but 0:22:10.600 --> 0:22:12.480 the thing is that they do all of the work themselves, 0:22:12.520 --> 0:22:16.680 which is the amazing thing. And then, uh, we had 0:22:16.680 --> 0:22:19.639 another group. We did a big project on education in 0:22:19.720 --> 0:22:23.159 our local high school here in Bakersfield. They had expelled 0:22:23.200 --> 0:22:29.760 twenty students of color in one year, and uh, well 0:22:30.160 --> 0:22:34.520 we changed that. We sued them and from tihundred expulsions 0:22:34.520 --> 0:22:37.640 it is now down to one. But in addition to that, 0:22:37.680 --> 0:22:42.240 they had to start changing their policies there to have 0:22:42.880 --> 0:22:46.879 positive behavior intervention systems, you know, they have to have 0:22:46.920 --> 0:22:49.240 hispanic heritage amount. They have to have a Black History 0:22:49.320 --> 0:22:52.919 Month to end the racism and in that area. So 0:22:52.960 --> 0:22:57.080 we our education uh program, we're active in about seventeen 0:22:57.080 --> 0:23:00.600 different school districts, coming over two hundred schools and over 0:23:01.480 --> 0:23:04.720 the recommendations that and this is the parents and the 0:23:04.760 --> 0:23:07.640 students that are doing this work, they have been accepted. 0:23:08.080 --> 0:23:10.200 So you know, we we just did a lot of 0:23:10.240 --> 0:23:13.600 work out on the census and on redistrant team and 0:23:13.680 --> 0:23:17.639 all of the maps that our demographers presented were accepted 0:23:17.680 --> 0:23:21.320 by the Independent Commission here in California for the Central Valley. 0:23:21.600 --> 0:23:24.720 So we're making a lot of progress. And now we're 0:23:24.760 --> 0:23:28.119 building a cultural piece and justice cultural center. Uh. You 0:23:28.160 --> 0:23:31.040 know that we want to start this organizing academy. So 0:23:31.080 --> 0:23:33.879 this organizing model that we have, we can export it 0:23:34.119 --> 0:23:37.960 to other areas because because once people learned that they 0:23:38.000 --> 0:23:41.560 have the power to make changes, it's exhilarating. They are 0:23:41.680 --> 0:23:44.159 so proud that they know that they were able to 0:23:44.200 --> 0:23:49.240 do this work. So it's it's it's it's it's almost miraculous. 0:23:49.280 --> 0:23:52.600 But you know, Mr President, I call it democracy an action, 0:23:53.000 --> 0:23:56.320 which is exactly what it is. And we say to people, 0:23:56.359 --> 0:23:58.560 you have the power. You may not have a high 0:23:58.560 --> 0:24:01.719 school diploma or we're gone to college. You may not 0:24:01.760 --> 0:24:04.760 speak perfect English or no English. But the thing is 0:24:04.800 --> 0:24:07.760 that your power is in your person. And once you 0:24:07.840 --> 0:24:11.120 all get together and you take collective action, and you said, 0:24:11.160 --> 0:24:13.399